My neighbor is constantly being pushed by the ROI police but he refuses to let them dampen his entrepreneurial spirit. He's the same gent who put his job on the line and pushed through funding for the company Web site years ago, over the ROI objections of the financial types. In his view it was rapidly becoming a Web-centric world so he went with what his gut was telling him about the downside risk of not providing engineers with Web access to product data, reference designs, samples and more.

As a result, everyone in the company now embraces the Web as the cornerstone of their marketing strategy, and my neighbor is a hero.

Now he's going back to the well to get support for a customer development-retention project he believes will leapfrog the competition. And he's confident he'll get the funding because he has defined the desired outcome and gotten a nod of support from top management; a nod is the beginning of the process. But, in his view, he'll push through the investment because senior management has confidence in his vision based on his past performance-the messenger is often as important as the message.

There's a lesson in all this: Don't let the ROI police dampen your enthusiasm or resolve.

Now I'd like your opinion. Let's assume supplier Web sites have made it easier for you to get information. But what else, apart from dropping their prices 20 percent, should they be doing to earn your respect and your business? And which suppliers are doing it best?

When Frank isn't dodging the ROI police, he can be reached at fburge@cmp.com.